A quick, hassle-free way to stay on top of robotics news from the past month, our monthly digest is released on the first Monday of every month.

Fighting for lift-off

As predicted in our July digest, this August once again saw a flurry of activity around drones and drone regulation.

In a bold move, Amazon, 3D Robotics, DJI (which just released their new Spreading Wings S900), Parrot and others came together to form a “Small UAV coalition” to speed up federal action on drone regulation. With their eye squarely on the consumer market, the new coalition has hired DC-based lobbying firm Akin Gump in an effort to smooth the way for civil drone development in the US; you can learn more about why the coalition members felt such a step was necessary here.

The following week, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) wrote an open letter to the FAA in support of Amazon’s bid to test its PrimeAir drone delivery service, and just days later, Google revealed that it was also getting into the drone delivery game, having secretly developed their own platform in Australia for the past two years. Commercial drone advocates are hoping that the heft of these big players will spur US regulators into action.

Jobbing robots

While businesses and industries are clearly excited by the potential of robotics, a report this month by the Pew Research Center asked robotics experts whether robots will create more jobs than they will take, highlighting the risks for blue-collar workers in particular.

Demerit points, anyone?

The safety record of autonomous may not be as squeaky clean as has been previously suggested, as Quartz revealed that Google kept minor accidents of its vehicles secret. Although these accidents happened while the cars were disengaged (being driven by a human rather than in autonomous mode), these incidents may have serious implications for situations in which transition from autonomous to manual mode are necessary, for instance when the car enters an unmapped area. Further safety risks relating to cars already on the market today, such as Cadillac Escalades, Jeep Cherokees or Infiniti Q50s, were exposed this month as these vehicles may be at risk of hack-attacks.

Have heart, dear robot

This month Waterloo-based Clearpath Robotics made a public pledge that it will not develop lethal autonomous weapons, despite holding various military contracts. The move sets a precedent in corporate responsibility, disclosing the company’s stance on roboethics and supporting the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots.